Santa and Mrs. Santa Claus’s pre-Christmas headquarters appear to be at the home of Al and Suzanne Schumacher, for Mrs. Claus graciously answered the door and appeared very comfortable and at ease in the Schumacher home.

It’s official – Vandalia will have a mayoral race in April.
Rick Gottman, who will seek a fourth mayoral term in the spring, was among the municipal candidates turning in petitions as the filing period for the April election began on Monday.
Petitions for the spring elections are being accepted through the end of the day on Wednesday, Dec. 26.
Also filing for the mayoral race on Monday was Brian Stout, who announced in August his plans to run for the city’s top office.

The Vandalia Board of Education, at a two-hour retreat prior to its monthly meeting on Tuesday, began laying the groundwork for potential cuts in the district’s 2013-14 budget.
Though Superintendent Rich Well characterized the retreat as a “number-crunching” meeting, he emphasized that no specific cuts have been discussed or determined.
“We’re still in the conversation mode,” he said following the school board meeting. “After the first of the year, we’ll start making specific plans.

In the wake of last Friday’s shootings at a Connecticut elementary school, Vandalia school officials are reviewing their security practices and emergency procedures.
“It certainly produces a heightened sense of urgency about the dangers,” said Superintendent of Schools Rich Well. “It makes you realize that we’re as vulnerable as the next school.”
Law enforcement officials in Newtown, Conn., are still trying to piece together a motive that caused 20-year-old Adam Lanza to kill 26 people – 20 of them children.